I had booked us in for a tour of the Cadbury chocolate factory at 10am this morning and it was close enough to walk.

The tour doesn’t actually show the real workings of the factory (compared with one Colin and I did years ago in Hobart), but is set up well. Our tour guide Rebecca initially took us through the history of the place. Then through a sensory room where she went through how chocolate is made, and gave us a chance to taste chocolate ‘crumb’ as well as some of the finished product. We had a demonstration of how they temper chocolate by hand as well. Further on she showed us how they coat things like Jaffas, and finally there is a climb to the top of a silo for a 14m high ‘chocolate fall’ – 1000L of chocolate dumped which can splatter the inside walls (and people). Liam did his usual thing and made sure to be at the front with the tour guide. He has done this every tour we have had – not just when chocolate is involved!

After the tour, we had a little bit of a walk round the city centre of Dunedin which is full of amazing, old character buildings including their amazing railway station. The Octagon was nice too, and we checked out a few shops before heading back to our accommodation for lunch. After lunch, Colin took Liam to visit someone he works with who lives with his wife and kids in Dunedin (the joy of working online from home!), while Emily and I relaxed for a while. Colin got some good advice from Simon about our afternoon activities.

We were booked to go out to the tip of the Otago Peninsula for an albatross tour at 7pm then their penguin tour at 9.15pm and I had asked Colin to check with Simon regarding what else to see on the Otago peninsula. There are lots of cute little towns, and a castle, but I didn’t think these would really appeal to the kids. Simon told Colin about some old tunnels and fortifications to explore.

We managed to find them thanks to the following blog which really tells the whole story better that I could ever do: http://adventure.nunn.nz/2016/01/12/ready-for-the-invasion-that-never-came-harington-point-gun-emplacements/

Needless to say, we all had great fun scrambling over the cliffs looking for and at the concrete structures and dodging the real barbed wire and the natural version too – thistles and spikey bushes. We also saw a heap of New Zealand fur seals, some basking on the rocks, others rolling in the water. (The nature guide on the Doubtful Sound cruise informed us that the rolling helps them digest their food!)

From Harington Point we were less than 2km from the Royal Albatross Centre at Point Taiaroa and for our tours. After a delicious dinner in their café and a look around the displays, we headed off on the first of our tours. Our Belgian guide was lacking a little in his English which affected his ability to communicate some of the information, but these majestic birds can speak pretty well for themselves. We spent about 30 minutes in the observation room, which is a large room with one way glass and we lucky enough to have some juvenile birds playing and fighting just outside the window.

Several parents on nests were also visible. It was lovely to just stand and watch these huge birds as they took off for flight and then later tried to come in and land.    

From there we proceeded to the second half of the tour to Fort Taiaroa. Another area of gun emplacements and tunnels, but this one well preserved and intact with a restored Disappearing Armstrong gun. Interesting, but not as impressive as the Oliver Hills Tunnels on Rottnest Island. There was another spot to see the Albatross though in a restored look out bunker. We could also see the Point Taiaroa lighthouse from here.

A short break for toilet and drinks and we were back on a much larger tour to check out the Little Blue Penguins. These are the same as the Fairy Penguins from home. There is an area called Pilots Beach just below the Albatross Centre where they nest. We all traipsed down to the decked viewing area and watched then come in from the sea and make their way to their nests. Very cute and the kids loved it. The wind and rain picked up and I was glad we had all prepared for this and could put on our layers and wet weather gear. It was 10.30pm before we left the penguins and the 45 minute drive home along the coast of Otago Peninsula made for a very late night.